Black Midi - Talking Heads

And we've got another new single from UK band Black Midi out for our aural consumption.  The appropriately titled "Talking Heads," a spastic and nervy little number feels maybe a little bit inspired by David Byrne and company, and it should be seeing a 12" release next month with the recently released "Crow's Perch" via Rough Trade.  Listen below.

Kitty

Kitty is the project of Kitty Ray, and new album "Rose Gold," reportedly entirely written at a strip club, is a catchy, dreamy mix of pop, hip-hop, and electronica.  From first listen, it seems destined to be a summertime staple, and she's got some assists from American Pleasure Club and Ricky Eat Acid.  Check out the very chill-wave feeling "Medicine," featuring the aforementioned Ricky Eat Acid below and download the album here.

Identified Patient & Sophie du Palais

Somewhere in my blood resides the old electronic and industrial remnants of the music i was obsessed with in 10th grade, which was actually years too late, but the internet was still in its infancy, so it took us longer to find things.  Wax Trax and Coil and other purveyors of synthetic, abrasive sound wormed their way into my ears only to stay forever.  Maybe that's why i'm really digging on the throwback dark electronic noise of Identified Patient & Sophie du Palais.  It would have fit right in with all of that '80s mayhem.  Listen to "Crush on You" from the duo's upcoming "Don't Exclude Anything" EP, do some misguided dance movies in a club or warehouse somewhere, and get the record here from Dutch label Pinkman.

Esya

Esya is the project of London artist Ayşe Hassan, who crafts a propulsive and hypnotic mix of post punk, industrial, and electronic experimentation.  Dark, brooding, and magnificent.  Listen to "Nothing" below and pre-order the upcoming "Absurdity of ATCG (I)" here from the artist.

Daily Jam - I'm in Love with a German Film Star

Today, we're moving in a soft post punk new wave kind of direction, so here's The Passions' 1981 single, "I'm in Love with a German Film Star," our Daily Jam.

Clay Rendering

Every now and then, i come across a song that feels almost uncategorizable, or at the very least, something that doesn't really fit the genre mold.  Today, we've got Clay Rendering.  The LA band makes a gloomy kind of art rock, shades of goth and noise and post punk or some kind of warped new wave.  Anyway, their "California Black Vows" LP comes out in June on Hospital Productions.  Listen to "Don't Understand You" below and pre-order here.

Old Tower

This may be the nerdiest kind of music i listen to, but synth artist Old Tower, and the very niche style of music he composes, a kind of dark, medieval-tinged, synthetic chamber pop, just feels right some mornings.  Dungeon synth.   New EP "Finsterströmung" is out in June on Hospital Productions.  Listen to the title track below and pre-order here.

Crying High

Here's a little warped, mutant, bedroom pop from Montreal band Crying High.  "Hold Yr Terror Close" sounds like lo-fi disco recorded underwater and then broadcast from the cosmos.  Listen below and get the "♬" cassette here via Arbutus, or buy a pipe from the band.  Your call.

Daily Jam - I'm Lonely (And I Love It)

I've been a fan of Stephen Merritt and Magnetic Fields for a long time now, and i've always felt that his many side projects (The 6ths, Gothic Archies, etc.) don't get the kind of love that they deserve.  One of those is the synth and pop and dance heavy Future Bible Heroes.  Releases for this project are pretty sparse, but they're always great, especially the EPs.  Listen to 2000's cheeky "I'm Lonely (And I Love It)" below, our Daily Jam.

In Mirrors

I don't know too much about LA artist In Mirrors, though the latest single from the project, "Humans," is a dreamy, brooding piece of synth pop heaven.  And i'll get to hear more in couple of weeks when they open for Chromatics at Emo's in May.  Check out the Chromatics directed video for the song below.

M83

I have an ever growing list of movies, both old and new, that i want to see, and one of those is the latest from Yann Gonzalez, "Knife + Heart."  From what i understand, the film is basically a kind of homage to an old Giallo, but set within the gay porno industry, and with score from M83.  Everything about that sounds amazing.  This is the second film score that M83 has done for the filmmaker, and as M83's Anthony Gonzalez is the brother of the director, i'll assume we'll get even more in the future.  Anyway, i haven't seen the film yet, but the score is fantastic.  Listen to "Un Couteau Dans Le Coeur" below and get the record here from Mute.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

The comically prolific Australian psych rock band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard put out what i think is their 14th(!) album on Friday and it finds the group riding into a steady, feel good groove.  Get "Fishing for Fishies" here from Flightless, and watch the video for the title track below.

Daily Jam - Flesh for Frankenstein Main Theme

Paul Morrissey's "Flesh for Frankenstein," also known as "Andy Warhol's Frankenstein" is an odd little film, full of sex and gore and comedy, but also a kind of heartbreaking score from Claudio Gizzi.  The film is great, but i think the soundtrack is absolutely wonderful, a baroque pop masterpiece.  Listen to the "Main Theme" below, our Daily Jam.

TRKRNR

Aw yeah.  Here's some sleek and sexy electro-soul-funk from Bay Area band TRKRNR (Track Runner) featuring fellow bedroom boogie enthusiast Trailer Limon.  "No Summer Days" bumps and grooves in all the right places.  Jam it below and get the 7" single here from Voyage Funktastique.

Daily Jam - It's Hard to Turn Me On

Some days, it dawns on me just how much i lost when Fun Fun Fun Fest ceased to be.  It was my favorite music festival.  And i saw so many artists i would have otherwise never gotten the chance to see, acts don't come through town very often or at all, like Weird Al, Sparks, Run DMC, Hum, Judas Priest, and more, more, more.  It was where i finally got to see '90s indie rock band Quasi.  And they were fantastic.  So, here's the band's "It's Hard to Turn Me On," our Daily Jam.

Mannequin Pussy

Punk band Mannequin Pussy have a new record headed our way this summer.  Considering their last record came in a hair under 20 minutes total, new single "Drunk II" is absolutely massive by comparison at 5 minutes.  The whole thing is an emotional, heartbroken piece of punk rock, ready made for our hearts and souls.  Watch the video below and be sure to get new album "Patience" from Epitaph.

Beak> - Life Goes On

Cool, the fuzzy, proggy band Beak> have a new EP heading our way in June called "Life Goes On."  Check out the grooving title track below and look for the record on Invada this summer.

Friday Horror Trailer - The Car

Daily Jam - I Just Started Hating Some People Today

A few years ago, Beck released a single for the "Blue Series" on Jack White's Third Man Records.  The song was a wonderful mix of old country, bar blues, and then some punk and all out weirdness to end it all.  It was the best thing he'd done in years and i pine for a whole album of this kind of thing someday.  I mean, his pop party and sad bastard records are great and everything, but this mutant country and western hybrid thing is where my heart's at.  Anyway, Beck's "I Just Started Hating Some People Today" is our Daily Jam.  Check it out and love it below.

Allah-Las - Raspberry Jam

Mexican Summer has this cool project in the works where they pair artists from their roster like Dungen, Peaking Lights, and more with surfers, travel to globe to catch waves, and then record music to go along with the footage.  Th first taste we're getting from the record, "Self Discovery for Social Survival," comes courtesy of Allah-Las.  Listen to the very surfy "Raspberry Jam" below and pre-order the album here from the label.

Daily Jam - It's A Sin

I believe that deep down, everybody is a fan of Pet Shop Boys, secret or no, whether they want to admit it or not.  So, let's listen to "It's A Sin," our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Power and Possession

From one of my favorite albums a few years back, today's tune is the down and melancholy yet hopeful track "Power and Possession" from Cindy Lee's wonderful 2015 record "Act of Tenderness."  It's perfect for this gray and rainy day in Central Texas, OR for whatever weather you've got wherever you are too.  Check it out below.

Perilypmh

Berlin by way of France artist Perilymph have a record of spaced out, proggy psych rock heading our way at the end of the week from Six Tonnes de Chair.  It's pretty, trippy, and grooving stuff.  Listen to "Avec" below and get the "Deux" LP here.

Jakuzi

I love me some synth pop, and i feel like i'm just getting an embarrassment of riches this year, what with new records from Hante., TR/ST, Drab Majesty, and the just announced Minuit Machine.  And yet there's still more.  Take for instance the Turkish band Jakuzi whom i had never heard until today, and their absolutely stellar sophomore album "Hata Payı."  The record floats and grooves with plenty of icy and soaring synthesizers to hit all those right pleasure points in my earholes.  Listen to "Şüphe" below and order the record here via City Slang.

Minuit Machine

Hooray!  I had heard a rumor that we were getting a new album from French darkwave synth pop duo Minuit Machine this year, but didn't really know if it was for real or not, with Helene de Thoury already releasing a new record from her Hante. project a couple months ago.  But here we are.  And it's out soon too.  The "Infrarouge" LP finds the duo traversing their usual sea of melancholy and dark, icy synthesizer tones, and i am here for it.  Listen to "DRGS" below and pre-order the record here, out next month on Synth Religion.

Daily Jam - It's Nothing to Me

The old country song "It's Nothing to Me," about a guy in a bar whose told to mind his own business by a another guy making some poor decisions has been recorded by a slew of different artists, even winding up in the hands of Lee Hazlewood both early and late in his career.  But today, we're going ot listen to the Harry Johnson version taken from the "God Less America" compilation album that unearthed a ton of old, obscure tracks for our listening pleasure.  Check it out below, our Daily Jam.

Communion

Austin band Communion craft immense and epic pieces of sound, colliding elements of doom and sludge and black metal into drone and darkened ambient tones to make a thudding cacophony that's both chaotic and sinister.  It's flashes of violence and destruction followed by quiet ruin and swaths of grey.  New album "Field of Ruin" is out now on the Somatic label.  Listen to the album opening "Field of Universal Ruin" below and get the cassette or download here.

Ana Roxanne

At home with one sick child and another one who's wild and crazy and trying to find a happy balance between the two.  It's not working.  So, here's some meditative and minimalist music from LA artist Ana Roxanne, her new album "~​~​~" being a mix of sparse electronics, haunting, beautiful vocals, and a kind of new age, devotional spiritualism.  Listen to the "Nocturne" below and get the cassette or download here via Leaving Records.

Nightjacket

LA shoegazey dreampop act Nightjacket make hazy, smokey jams perfect for summer nights.  And hey, we're only a few weeks away from said summer nights, so there you go.  Listen to "You're Trying Too Hard" below and pre-order the upcoming "Beauty in the Dark" LP here from the band, due at the end of May.

Daily Jam - Everyday I Wonder

I don't even remember how i came to start listening to Roy Wood and Wizzard, but i'm so glad that i did.  Poppy '70s glam rock for everyone!  Anyway, here's "Everyday I Wonder" from the 1974 album "Introducing Eddy and The Falcons," your Daily Jam...

bbrainz

Vaporwave is such a weird genre to me, warped, synth-heavy songs that often sounds like shopping mall muzak or the library score to some late '80s/early '90s informational VHS tape.  It's a strange aesthetic to be sure, but also kind of soothing.  Anyway, here's the latest from an artist by the name of bbrainz, the "Internet Lust" LP available here for pre-order from DIY Records.  Listen to "Home Design" below.

Daily Jam - Why Don't You Try Me

Happy Easter everybody.  Here's a little '60s soul from Maurice & Mac for our Daily Jam, "Why Don't You Try Me."

Numenorean

For better or worse, a lot of metal is venturing into that crossover phase, incorporating more elements and sounds from different genres and expanding the very idea of what heavy metal can be.  I think it's a great thing.  Anyway, the latest effort from Canadian metal band Numenorean wades into that black metal meets post rock kind of sound with some added goth and alt-rock to muddy things up a little.  Grab the "Adore" LP here from Season of Mist and listen to the epic title track below.

Daily Jam - Mountain Time

Prom season anyone?  Here's some lovely, melancholy and nostalgic lo-fi synth pop from Molly Nilsson with an appropriately themed music video accompany it.  "Mountain Time," our Daily Jam...

Sunn O)))

Did you miss out on Sunn O)))'s latest album, the Steve Albini recorded "Life Metal" last weekend on Record Store Day?  Well, fear not.  That was just a special early release preceding the album's actual release date next week.  So those of you who couldn't get your hands on the noisy, droney metal record last Saturday can still be getting a hold of it soon.  Listen to "Troubled Air" below, pre-order the digital version here from the band, and get the physical record from Southern Lord next Friday.

L’epée

Anton Newcombe and Brian Jonestown Massacre have been doing psych rock right for almost 30 years, and now he's teamed up with French duo The Limiñanas to form a new band called L’epée.  Check out the project's new song "Dreams," a short nugget of fuzz and groove, and order the 12" single here.

Daily Jam - Voila

It seems like i've spent the last 25 years discovering the music of Francoise Hardy, first hearing of her long, long ago when she appeared on a track by Blur.  And then providing vocals on a B-side for Air (which happens to be one of my all time favorite songs).  So i gradually began finding her stuff, listening to a track or album here or there.  And i loved it all.  Then in 2011, Alex Zhang Hungtai, under his Dirty Beaches moniker sampled Hardy's "Voila" for his great track "Lord Knows Best."  I was completely and utterly hooked after that, clamoring for any and all of the music Hardy has lent her lovely voice to.  Listen to the transcendent "Voila" below, our Daily Jam.

Friday Horror Trailer - Necromancer

Flying Lotus and David Lynch

LA producer Flying Lotus has a new record coming out next month, and aside from featuring artists like Toto y Moi, Shabazz Palaces, and more, the album also features David Lynch doing some spoken word stuff.  Watch the weird and kind of unsettling video for the weird and kind of unsettling "Fire Is Coming" below and pre-order the upcoming "Flamagra" LP here from Warp.

Mesarthim - Ghost Condensate

Hey, we've got new music from Australia's Mesarthim out to satiate that black metal meets cosmic abyss vibe i was missing today.  Listen to "Ghost Condensate," the whole opus, below and download it here from the band for a dollar.  Also, contribute some money to get this thing on vinyl if you are so inclined.

Daily Jam - Napoleon

French electronic duo Principles of Geometry put out what was probably my favorite album of 2008 with their "Lazare" LP (it actually came out late 2007, but didn't make it my way for a few months after that).  A cool mix of IDM and synth wave (before synth wave was really a thing), the album at times feels like some lost Boards of Canada record or unused horror score.  And it's a winner from start to finish.  Listen to "Napoleon" below, featuring Cannibal Ox's Vast Aire on vocals and a dialog sample from John Carpenter's "Assault on Precinct 13" to open things up.  Our Daily Jam.

"I'm Mr. Fantastic!  You make my arms stretch!"

ML Wah

Matt LaJoie of the Maine psych duo Ash & Herb also puts out music under the moniker of ML Wah, and his latest, the upcoming "Deep Roots" LP, is a swampy mix of psych, weirdo folk, drone, jazz, and spiritual explorations.  Listen to "Santal" below and pre-order the record here from Flower Room.

Mega Bog

Mega Bog is the project of singer/songwriter Erin Elizabeth Birgy, and on her latest album she combs through elements of folk, pop, and post punk to create a subdued yet entrancing tapestry of sound.  Listen to "Diary of a Rose" below and pre-order the upcoming "Dolphine" LP here via Paradise of Bachelors.

Daily Jam - The Ghost of Tom Joad

Bruce Springstein is an amazing songwriter, and i'm pretty sure a track or two of his will end up on this series before long, but i've always been more drawn to Junip's cover of "The Ghost of Tom Joad" than the original.  It just seems to hit me harder, that mournful organ underlying everything.  Anyway, it's our Daily Jam today.

Drab Majesty

All at once, i heard from about 15 different sources today that a new Drab Majesty album was heading our way this summer and that a new single was out today.  It's good to know there are people out there online looking out for my ears.  Anyway, check out the decidedly poppy "Ellipsis" below and pre-order the upcoming "Modern Mirror" LP here from Dais.

Julian Lynch

I feel like it's been forever since i last heard anything from Julian Lynch, 2011's "Terra" being one of my favorite releases of that year.  It seems he's now playing with Real Estate, and he released a new album back in January that i missed.  But catching up now i am.  Enjoy some experimental bedroom pop with new record "Rat's Spit," (get it here), and listen to "Meridian" below.

Curved Entrances

Here's a little droning psych guitar mind expansion and freakout from Myrrors offshoot Curved Entrances.  The self-titled record is akin to getting baked in the Arizona sun awash in light and sand as your body slowly crumbles to dust and skin and your consciousness joins something greater than itself in the cosmos.  Yeah.  Something like that.  Listen to the epic "Inscribe the Night" below and get the self-titled album here from Sky Lantern Records.

Future Museums

I love that the back story behind Austin experimental band Future Museum's latest EP "Heavenish," is that the members all took some microdoses of LSD and then just wandered around on trails in the Central Texas hill country, appreciating nature and their friendships.  Kind of hippy-dippy stuff, but also pretty cool.  And it churned out this droney, psych-tinged little new age thing from the band.  Listen to "Gnawed On" below and grab the album on cassette here from Aural Canyon.

Sólveig Matthildur

So far this morning has consisted of playing cars with my 3-year old and listening to a bunch of music i've never heard before online, so...good morning.  Anyway, here's some dreamy darkwave synth pop from Iceland's Sólveig Matthildur taken from her upcoming sophomore solo record "Constantly In Love."  Listen to "Dystopian Boy" below, pre-order here from Artoffact, and check out her band Kælan Mikla here.

Penelope Trappes Reworked by Mogwai

Last year, UK artist Penelope Trappes released the excellent "Penelope Two" LP, and now the whole thing is getting remixed/reworked/reinterpreted by a slew of different artists.  Check out Mogwai's oozing revision of "Burn On" below and pre-order the upcoming "Penelope Redeux" here from Houndstooth.